In nearly a carbon copy of Monday's practice, UCLA wrapped up a two-hour, shorts-and-T-shirts workout in bearable 88-degree weather. Here were the news and notes from the evening:
-For the second straight day tight end Chris Clark watched from the sidelines in street clothes. The rest of the players who missed yesterday's workout (Simon Goines, Craig Lee, Cordell Broadus and Steven Manfro) all were out once again today.
-On the interview front, we got Noel Mazzone, Caleb Benenoch, Jerry Neuheisel, Jordan Lasley and Nate Iese after practice. Both Mazzone and Neuheisel said there's no real timetable to name a starting quarterback. Benenoch offered up some great nuggets, calling Paul Perkins the best running back in the country and saying his O-line has a chance to be the best in the nation as well. Videos of the interviews are up on the front page now.
-The starting offense and defense were the same as yesterday's (click here for those). The only difference was on offense, where Mike Fafaul actually took the majority of first-team reps. On the second string, most of those were the same as Monday's practice as well, although Tevita Halalilo took the guard reps that Josh Wariboko got yesterday. Zach Bateman worked in at some second-string left tackle as well.
-In an interesting note, players that were working as shotgun centers before practice were Jake Brendel, Fred Ulu-Perry and Alex Redmond. That probably tells you Redmond is this team's backup center should something happen to Brendel.
-Roosevelt Davis provided the two biggest highlights of the early 11-on-11 period, breaking through the line for two long runs on zone read plays. Every year he has camps like these. I still think he'd be a starter on some Mountain West team if he wanted to be one.
-While Fafaul got the first-team reps, it's clear Jerry Neuheisel and Josh Rosen are on another level. I thought both performed well today, but the way Rosen dissects 7-on-7 at his age is truly something special. He had two throws in particular today that really wowed. The first was a 40-yard-or-so heave to walk-on Brad Sochowski who made a nice diving grab for the big gain. The second was a sideline strike to Logan Sweet, a 30-yard-or-so throw over Colin Samuel that hit the former walk-on in stride. I would say through two days of 7-on-7, Rosen's completion percentage is well over 80 percent.
-Neuheisel had his fair share of moments too, notably two deep balls down the middle of the field to Kenny Walker for would-be scores. This may have been Neuheisel's best day of throwing not only in this camp, but in spring camp as well.
-Of the incoming freshmen, the three guys I really liked today were OL Tevita Halalilo, WR Stephen Johnson and DE Rick Wade. Halalilo may not be the world's greatest pass blocker, but he blows D-linemen off the ball on run plays. Johnson is looking like the F-back this team has never had. A speedy receiver with great change of direction, he did some really nice things with the football after the catch. And the scary thing is, he might be a more valuable CB to this team. With Wade, he's not only physically looking great, but he had a pop on Bolu Olorunfunmi in the hole today that drew some "Ohhhs." He looks better at this stage in his career than both Matt Dickerson and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner did last year.
-UCLA tried everything it could to get Soso Jamabo going today. Kennedy Polamalu gave him extra reps in individuals, and then in team stuff, he actually took a lot of reps with the ones at running back as well. He even logged some snaps as a Wildcat quarterback too. I thought he looked better today than yesterday, but I'm still waiting on that five-star burst to show up.
-The Bruins' starting O-line looks fantastic. You could say great things about each one of them, but Kenny Lacy really deserves some ink here. He was great today in both pass pro and run blocking. The improvement he's made since his freshman year has been really something to see.
-Cornerback Fabian Moreau dropped a pick-six in the flats off Mike Fafaul in 11-on-11s. He's still this team's best cornerback.
-Receiver Aaron Sharp flashed today, catching several passes for long gains. Mazzone said after practice he's liked what he's seen from the converted quarterback as well.
-Kenny Young had a pass breakup in the flats in 11-on-11, and nearly had another one on the other side of the field earlier in the day.
-Keisean Lucier-South finally got his feet wet in 11-on-11s, and while he struggled against the run (it reminded me a lot of when I would film him at OLu last year), he was able to show some nice dip and bend on several pass-rushing reps.
UCLA practices again on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
-For the second straight day tight end Chris Clark watched from the sidelines in street clothes. The rest of the players who missed yesterday's workout (Simon Goines, Craig Lee, Cordell Broadus and Steven Manfro) all were out once again today.
-On the interview front, we got Noel Mazzone, Caleb Benenoch, Jerry Neuheisel, Jordan Lasley and Nate Iese after practice. Both Mazzone and Neuheisel said there's no real timetable to name a starting quarterback. Benenoch offered up some great nuggets, calling Paul Perkins the best running back in the country and saying his O-line has a chance to be the best in the nation as well. Videos of the interviews are up on the front page now.
-The starting offense and defense were the same as yesterday's (click here for those). The only difference was on offense, where Mike Fafaul actually took the majority of first-team reps. On the second string, most of those were the same as Monday's practice as well, although Tevita Halalilo took the guard reps that Josh Wariboko got yesterday. Zach Bateman worked in at some second-string left tackle as well.
-In an interesting note, players that were working as shotgun centers before practice were Jake Brendel, Fred Ulu-Perry and Alex Redmond. That probably tells you Redmond is this team's backup center should something happen to Brendel.
-Roosevelt Davis provided the two biggest highlights of the early 11-on-11 period, breaking through the line for two long runs on zone read plays. Every year he has camps like these. I still think he'd be a starter on some Mountain West team if he wanted to be one.
-While Fafaul got the first-team reps, it's clear Jerry Neuheisel and Josh Rosen are on another level. I thought both performed well today, but the way Rosen dissects 7-on-7 at his age is truly something special. He had two throws in particular today that really wowed. The first was a 40-yard-or-so heave to walk-on Brad Sochowski who made a nice diving grab for the big gain. The second was a sideline strike to Logan Sweet, a 30-yard-or-so throw over Colin Samuel that hit the former walk-on in stride. I would say through two days of 7-on-7, Rosen's completion percentage is well over 80 percent.
-Neuheisel had his fair share of moments too, notably two deep balls down the middle of the field to Kenny Walker for would-be scores. This may have been Neuheisel's best day of throwing not only in this camp, but in spring camp as well.
-Of the incoming freshmen, the three guys I really liked today were OL Tevita Halalilo, WR Stephen Johnson and DE Rick Wade. Halalilo may not be the world's greatest pass blocker, but he blows D-linemen off the ball on run plays. Johnson is looking like the F-back this team has never had. A speedy receiver with great change of direction, he did some really nice things with the football after the catch. And the scary thing is, he might be a more valuable CB to this team. With Wade, he's not only physically looking great, but he had a pop on Bolu Olorunfunmi in the hole today that drew some "Ohhhs." He looks better at this stage in his career than both Matt Dickerson and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner did last year.
-UCLA tried everything it could to get Soso Jamabo going today. Kennedy Polamalu gave him extra reps in individuals, and then in team stuff, he actually took a lot of reps with the ones at running back as well. He even logged some snaps as a Wildcat quarterback too. I thought he looked better today than yesterday, but I'm still waiting on that five-star burst to show up.
-The Bruins' starting O-line looks fantastic. You could say great things about each one of them, but Kenny Lacy really deserves some ink here. He was great today in both pass pro and run blocking. The improvement he's made since his freshman year has been really something to see.
-Cornerback Fabian Moreau dropped a pick-six in the flats off Mike Fafaul in 11-on-11s. He's still this team's best cornerback.
-Receiver Aaron Sharp flashed today, catching several passes for long gains. Mazzone said after practice he's liked what he's seen from the converted quarterback as well.
-Kenny Young had a pass breakup in the flats in 11-on-11, and nearly had another one on the other side of the field earlier in the day.
-Keisean Lucier-South finally got his feet wet in 11-on-11s, and while he struggled against the run (it reminded me a lot of when I would film him at OLu last year), he was able to show some nice dip and bend on several pass-rushing reps.
UCLA practices again on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
